A Dhampir's Curse PV Finished

He didn't want to move. He was about to be eaten, or killed. A mistake had been made, a transgression. He had been ripped from the arms of his friend, and was being carried off and deposited in some hospital bed, in the wing where they made people sick. People died here, they lost friends here. When Kaegen was set down on the bed, something inside him snapped, and started to scream. It was a small snap, but it was there. A voice telling him to attack, run, move, do something.

But then the professor started calling for blood. Why blood, did they want to stage a scene, make something look like an accident? Cover Kaegen with blood and say he killed more people? Use it to summon some beast from the pits of the dark places? Kaegen tried to panic, but it wasn't there, the fire wasn't alive. He felt like his insides were made of thorns and mildew, stabbing pain and aging, dying moss.

The professor showed him his arm, and asked him if he wanted to feed. But he had already fed a little, why would the professor give more of his blood, hadn't it hurt? It must have, it must have hurt. So why would he willingly give from himself to feed whatever hunger was inside Kae? And that's when he realized exactly what was going on. The professor wanted to feed the hunger, he wanted Kaegen to no longer be Kaegen, but only hunger, to be a weapon, to be like a death witch. Kaegen was being recruited into an army of evil, and there was precious little he could do about it.

Reaching behind himself, grabbing firm hold of the pillow, Kaegen hurled it over his head at the professor in as strong an arc as his admittedly weak arms could muster.

"You'll have to kill me. I'm better off dead than being one of them."

His hand snatched up his wand, and pointed it at the professor as he dropped into a crouch on the bed, calculating. A jump in the air, a well placed fleependo, he could make it to the door. Then it was a straight shot to the window, as long as no one had been following them, and this professor's reflexes weren't perfect, he might make it.

The vibrant pink of her outfit directly contrasted with her face. Pale and makeup smudged, Olphie had fought - and failed - a few solitary tears from running down her face as she dragged the boy out of the ball and to the Hospital Wing.

She was glad that Alimerick had come with them, for she could not think, could hardly breathe, as her mind kept racing with the thought of Scott, Scott, Scott, then moving onward to the others, the ones she had taken care of since infancy, the ones she had hardly known. How many of them were there now? How many did she not know? 

God, she craved that sweet temptress known as a cigarette. She hadn't had one in so long, for the addiction had been cut almost simultaneously with her estrangement from her family; how funny it was how all these vices intertwined, forming a slippery slope, a path of danger that could only be saved by the slightest glimpse of reality. That there was more than those few minutes of satiation. 

It wasn't that easy, however, to pinpoint what actually was a vice and what were actually nutrients for the soul. The absence of familial love, of love in general, left Olphie seeking a kind of satisfaction in men, one that would follow her to this day. The thread of connection was left undiscovered, but now, as she led the boy further - more gently, the Astronomy professor had instructed - she wondered if the separation of the lesion that she thought was her family was truly the correct choice.

For now, she needed to focus on the task at hand, on the child who needed her in this moment. Scott, the others...they could wait. She was uncertain if the cigarette could wait as well. At the very least, she craved a drink. Or twelve. Anything to dull or remove the realities of her life. Anything to calm the pressure of that shroud of darkness tightening around her brain. 

She nodded to the floor as Equalnobs held the door open, ashamed to make eye contact, thus betraying the fact that this event had knocked the normally poised and confident Bercegeay to a vague shadow of her former self. Continuing to guide the boy to his bed, Olphie took a seat near his bedside, not wanting to leave him. 

And then...confusion. Alrock asked for warmed blood; hadn't he already provided? Olphie hadn't bothered learning about these creatures, hadn't even attempted to understand those other than herself, too focused on getting the attention and love she had so craved, then the glory and fame of stardom that could only lead to more attention and fame. It was now that she realized how beneficial it would have been to know even the slightest information about dhampirs, especially due to her position of influence. Her eyes dropped again upon the Astronomy professor's command, less due to obedience, more because of shame. Look at her now...the glory, the fame. Had it been worth it? 

The shuffle from the bed had been unexpected, and Olphie's eyes flashed upward suddenly. The throw of the pillow had been enough to knock her out of shame, to remind her that she needed to focus on the task at hand, worry about herself later. With his words, Keegan had grabbed his wand. With his words, Olphie, instinctually, reached to cup the boy's shoulder as she used to when her younger siblings were afraid. She would hush, then, as she did now, and if she had made contact, she'd move her hand up and down the boy's arm to continue her attempts at comfort. Either way, she'd murmur hoarsely, as though she had not used her voice this way for a while, "Keyman, dear...he's trying to help. Shhh...I know you're scared...but it will be okay. I promise."

Her eyes attempted to make contact with the boy's own, though she tried not to betray her own emotions of fear. Like with her siblings, she had to be brave. Like with her siblings, it was her duty. Like with her siblings, she could not let this boy down. She needed to protect him.

Why had she expected anything else from this day? A part of her hoped that for once the students of Hogwarts could be on their very best behaviour. They had guests in the school, after all. What sort of impression was this? But perhaps this was their very best behaviour... Perhaps she was the one in the wrong for expecting anything better from the students. She grossly overestimated their maturity and that was on her, it would seem. 

Hjørdis walked quickly towards the Hospital Wing. She had no idea if this was where the trio she was searching for had gone. But it was the closest to the ballroom, on the floor above. The other options were a little further away - such as the Astronomy Tower - so she opted to try this one first. It would have been a bit more useful if Miss Fawley had actually told where to go but perhaps she did not know. 

Her kitten had moved onto her shoulder, clinging on as she walked. She could feel his nails scratching her shoulder and upper arm but she left it be for now. Her mind was focused on something else. She was mentally going over everything she knew about Kaegen Deathmote and Dhampirs. The knowledge of both would, no doubt, come in use.

Stopping outside the wing, she gently pushed the door open. They were there. Hjørdis slipped in, trying not to disturb them too much. She missed the pillow being thrown and everything before it. Her eyes fell onto a Kaegen, pointing his wand at a man much older - and much more capable - than he was. He was scared. She pushed the door closed behind her as she entered, locking it shut with a whisper as subtly as she could. Then she turned back to the scene.

Equinox had his arm exposed, noticeable blood dots on his arm that was undeniably bite marks. Whether it was here or back in the ballroom, she did not know. All she knew was that they were definitely Kaegen's. Bercegeay looked... like a mess, as always. But for once, her happy, playful and not serious attitude seemed to have fallen. Perhaps she was actually trying to help this time. Hjørdis took off her mask, waving it in front of her shoulder for a moment before tossing it onto the empty bed nearest to the door. Her eyes scanned for other students as she did so but they were lucky. It was empty. That was a good thing. Jeger followed the mask, hopping onto the bed. Hjørdis drew the curtain around him as she took a few steps closer - and blocked the kitten's gaze. He was far too curious for this situation.

Placing herself a few steps into the room, Hjørdis stood between the door and Kaegen. She had done this before. The very first time they had met. That time, it had paid off. This time... she was not so sure. "Kaegen..." She spoke, drawing attention to the fact that she was here, "I came because you asked to see me..." Hjørdis was careful in the words she was saying. It was almost unusual for her to phrase it that way but she wanted Kaegen to see that she was here, for him, because of him, because he wanted her there. She was on his side. It did not matter if he thought the other two weren't, she was. Her words said that.

There was a lot she wanted to say. She wanted him to know that no one was here to kill him, that he was not better off dead. She wanted him to know that - despite the fact that she thought Bercegeay was dumb - this time, what she was saying was right. She wanted to question everything that had happened and try to understand how they got here - or why she was even here. A part of her wanted to continue to speak but she said nothing else. He trusted her enough to call for her. She did not want to break that by making him feel uncomfortable or unsafe. It was why she also was subtle in her actions prior to speaking, trying not to garner too much attention or make him think she was trapping him here. Even though... well, she kind of was. Her actions may have been calculated but they looked natural enough to hopefully have tricked him.

Jeger | Outfit of the day

Keyman? A nickname, the kind of name you gave to someone when you didn't care enough to learn their real name. The kind of name you gave to someone when their names weren't real. He knew exactly what that meant, he did it all the time. He knew people by odd names that helped him remember, he knew them by lights, fairy, airheat, bean. They didn't have real names, so he gave them easy ones. She had done the same, and it felt like a cold sword plunging into his heart.

His wand hand dropped, and his terrified eyes widened in utter shock and pain. He had names, he mattered, he was someone, he was someone great. People had called him names like kae before, but their opinions hadn't really mattered. What would someone with no name know about someone who had one? But a professor? Someone with that much power dangling about by their fingertips? Someone who knew what was going on, someone who toyed with him as a mouse toyed with a cat hadn't even acknowledged his name. Key-man.

Realistically, it shouldn't have affected him. He shouldn't have reacted the way he did, it was a clear overreaction but he was sensitive and hurt. Everything seemed like a slap in the face, from the stark cleanliness of the hospital wing to the almost sad expressions on the professor's face.

But the pain was only present on his face for less than a second, as his brain registered the touch and panicked. That was it, he was dead. He tried to jump to the next bed, but the mattress was too soft and his foot sunk down, got trapped in the sheet and sent him plummeting down into the space between the beds with a crash that wasn't nearly as loud as it should have been. He was incredibly light for his size, after all, and it showed. He shot back up and onto the other bed with a scrambling sort of leap, pointing his wand at one professor, or the other, or both he didn't care.

"Incendio!"

Nothing happened. Kaegen looked down at the useless wand, and felt hot, stinging, bloody tears start to build up in the corners of his eyes. Failure again. He had failed again, and was desperately casting about for something, anything. But he found nothing. His bomb would not be enough, his knives would fall short. He was standing on a bed with strong windows, and the professors were in his way. But maybe he could make it to the door? If the bomb distracted them, then he might be able to make some sort of desperate leap. A perfectly timed fleependo, for example.

The blood dripped from his face onto the mattress below, tears that stood witness to just how hopeless the little boy thought his situation was. His mind was thinking of escape, but it was a weak glimmer of hope, hope that didn’t mean a lot, if anything. What good would a single ray of light that shows the exit to your deep well give you, if you couldn’t scale the walls? By the time the door opened and the white haired professor stepped in, Kaegen had all but surrendered. His arms were hanging limp, his tears were flowing freely, and it was honestly a miracle he was able to see her at all.
It had been a brief spout of defiance from the mind of a boy who knew he was defeated and wanted to fight anyway. His wand fell from his hand, bounced off the bed and clattered to the floor. A useless piece of wood that he didn’t have the presence of mind to control. Despair and misery reached their thorny vines up from the pit of the dark places, and took far firmer hold than they had last time. No daring escape from the grip of darkness would give him the courage to leap up from his bed this time.

He could hear her say she was here because he asked for her to help him, so why was she not fighting his attackers, or challenging them? He had almost been killed, he had been defeated, and was now standing in a pitiful, crying mess and needed help, he needed a hand, or a hug, or someone who wasn’t trying to kill him. He couldn’t fight forever, he couldn’t fight at all, not now.

”Please, fix this.”

He walked over to the bed he had originally been placed in, climbed on top, and sat down in a crumpled little crying heap. He didn’t care, he felt like nothing. A little monster that someone had accidentally let loose in a cursed school.

”Fix me.”

This wasn’t going as planned… He knew the boy was troubled but he didn’t realize the boy was this troubled. The pillow sailed passed him but he seemed like he was in a daze.



This brought him back to the time where he almost got expelled from Hogwarts and almost as if he had no control over it the infirmary wing was gone and before he was the boys. The boys that dragged him out and held him down under the hot sunlight until his skin burned. Their laughter rang through his ears as his arm dropped limply to the bed. It had been a long time since he had lived through this but still, it affected him as if it had only happened yesterday.


“That’s not his name” Alaric whispered barely above a murmur and he doubted anyone actually heard him. IT didn’t matter if they heard him or not, he still couldn’t even see them. He remembered what happened the day after he had been treated for his burns. Bite me you fanged freak rang out in his mind as the scent of blood filled his nose that day when he was a little boy. He didn’t know how to hunt and he didn’t know how to control himself fully. He was agitated and angry and this was the same boy that tried to practically murder him on a weekly basis. Alaric remembered throwing the boy to the ground and pouncing on him like a hell beast. Just before his fangs touched the other boy's skin he had been ripped off of him by a professor.




Her voice pulled him out of it as if reaching some deep recess in which he drowned and gently pulling him back to the surface. His eyes went from Olphie, to Nora, and finally resting on Kaegen. He watched the ruby red drops fall from the boy's eyes mimicked now by him. A red train went from his eyes down his cheek before resting on his jaw. Reaching up he wiped it away, but with this, he also smeared and wiped away some of the makeup on his cheek. This showed that underneath his ‘perfect’ milky white skin was the same corpse-like skin that Kaegen had.



The dam broke and blood tears started to trail down his face. Alaric against his own better judgment pulled Kaegen into a hug. “You’re not broken Kaegen… You just need to learn.” His voice huskier from his choked emotions.

It was as though Olphie's fingertips held the powers of the fire that the boy had tried to cast; with her touch, he hurtled away from her and failed to cast a spell of retaliation. Is this how Scott would treat her if she were to try to see him again? Is this how all of them would react to her attempts at forgiveness, a gentle touch? 

Her mind clouded, though she gazed upon the boy in front of her, thoughts only swirling about her family, a pang ripping at her heart as she realized that she had not only failed them, but this boy, as well. Olphie could portray herself with confidence, but in moments like this, the masquerade of her broken heart was obvious. She missed her siblings, but she had disappointed them. Becoming a professor had, unconsciously, been means to reconcile the wrongs she had brought upon them, and yet, she could not help but fuck up once more. When would she learn? When would she finally be that person her parents had always wanted her to be, someone who made others proud? She had thought that Hogwarts would be a chance to heal the disease that was Olphie, and yet, on her second time around, she couldn't help but admit that she had failed, once again. This boy, Kae...gan, (her brows furrowed in concentration as she forced herself to remember the name) was evidence of that. 

Her vision blurred with her mind as she watched his bloodied tears fall onto the cushioned mattress below. At least those tears would be comforted, as they sunk deeper into the confines of the cushion, hidden away from the terrors of the world, but still leaving their mark that they had been there. She heard the voice of another woman, slightly bringing her back to reality as she registered the cautious tone of Northpole Jameson. Olphie had always admired the fashion sense of her colleague and wanted to look but was too resigned with the exhaustion of emotion. Even if she had the energy, she was nervous to pull her gaze away from the boy, and traced his lips with her eyes as he uttered a small phrase: "Fix me."

Fix me too.

But she couldn't say these words, not now, not ever, for even though she had failed again and again, she had been taught that her problems were far beneath the problems of others. Olphie always sought to honor this mantra, first with her siblings. Now, she knew she was contractually obligated to forfeit her own shortcomings for the sake of this child. Besides, she wouldn't dare show others her innermost soul, dare to lose the respect of her colleagues. She was just lucky that the warm, cinnamon tasting firewhiskey could welcome her in its open arms, later tonight.

The imagined warmth of her future comfort coincided with the Astronomy professor's attempts at a hug as she hoped that Kaegan could find his comfort, too. 

Hjørdis appeared to have turned up a bad time. The Ravenclaw student looked... even more broken than he did before. The tears streamed from his face. There was no fight left in him. Whatever happened seemed to have destroyed his desire to fight - which was a rather strong desire that she had witnessed in him prior to this moment. Her eyes flickered from his broken body to the Astronomy Professor's. She spotted the same red tears falling from his eyes. 

Kaegen spoke after a few moments. His words were even more heartbreaking than the look of defeat in every fibre of his being. He spoke like a broken toy in need of fixing. Like Pinocchio with the desire to be a real boy. He was scared. She stepped forward, about to react to his words when she stopped abruptly in her tracks. He had been engulfed in a hug by the other professor, who took the words right out of her mouth. Equinox was definitely the right person to guide the young Dhampir. His actions and words made that clear. If anyone in the room understood how Kaegen felt, it was clearly the older Dhampir. The blood that fell from the older man's eyes made that obvious. He understood better than the other two did. Seeing a student so defeated was heartbreaking. But it was not necessarily something that you could relate to. Equinox, perhaps, could. 

Her gaze fell onto the Bercegeay. Her own face had flooded with tears too. People often said that Hjørdis did not have a heart and perhaps, they were right. Her usual blank expression remained on her face. There were no signs of tears. Her gaze lowered slightly, hitting the floor between her and the bed that Kaegen sat on. She had little idea of what had happened, but whatever it was, it had affected him far more than anyone else. The feeling of being broken was a shattering feeling. It never mattered how confident you were or how strong you actually are. The feeling itself was far stronger than anything else. It attacked the very core of him and that made her heart bleed, despite what her face said.

Hjørdis took a few steps closer, placing her hand on Bercegeay's shoulder and giving her a look that would hopefully bring the flying professor out of her emotional state and back to reality. It was her own way of offering her a way out of this situation, as though she would take over if Bercegeay needed to leave. She let go and moved in front of her, closer to Kaegen, crouching down besides the edge of his bed to lower herself to his level. "Kaegen..." Her voice was softer than her expression. There was a tiny sense of warmth to it that her facial expression likely lacked, "Everything will be okay." She added, "I promise you, everything will get better." Her right hand was between them, with the palm facing up. Her gesture was one of simplicity. The open palm, the offering of her hand as she spoke of a promise. It was a simple gesture.

But perhaps, just maybe, Kaegen would believe them. One day, he would realise and that was all she could hope for in this moment. He did not need fixing. He was not broken. But the way he felt could and would be fixed. The feeling of being broken was just that. It was a feeling. It was not real. No one is ever broken. They just feel that way. And feelings can - and will - be changed. 

Jeger | Outfit of the day

It was over, he was gone. He could see little cracks starting to shatter his world, he could see the darkness that lurked behind those cracks. So long, he had been alive so long, only for it all to be for nothing. The white haired healer wasn't going to save him, he was going to be eaten alive by the astronomy professor. He could dimly see the arms coming towards him through a blurry haze of red bloody tears, but found that he really didn't care enough to move. He was going to die anyway, why even fight anymore.

So he just went limp, barely mumbling the words

"do it fast"

He didn't know what death was like, it was scary. Terrifying, something that he'd been trying to kill or run from his entire life, only to end up failing now, only to end up being swallowed up by some monster. Some foul professor that wouldn't even remember his face once he was gone. In the end, after all he had done, after so many sleepless nights, he was done, reduced to prey. A slab of meat, a snack, something to be devoured without a second thought.

But he was saying something about how Kaegen wasn't broken, how he needed to learn. Learn what, why bother learning? He was about to die, everything was over, his life was over. He never got to do so many things, he never got to be a good friend. He absently wondered if his friend would miss him, and decided no, no one would miss him. Why would they? He passed through their worlds as a specter. He wasn't anything real to anyone but himself. He was shattered, a shadow, and he needed to be fixed. He didn't need to learn, he was broken on some fundamental level.

Kaegen's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the blood tears, at the smeared sight of skin that was like his own.

"...Oh."

Puzzle pieces clicked together as he was wrapped in an embrace. He didn't react, just sat there limp as his mind churned. He knew that the professors were most likely monsters in disguise, but he had also assumed that they were some formless monster that shape shifted into a vaguely human form. He had seen many people cry, some just at the sight of him. They were scared of him because he was a monster, he knew that he was a monster, he had accepted that. But he had never quite taken the time to realize, or care about, what kind of monster he was.

No one else cried blood, no one else had skin quite like his. No one except for this professor. So that was the answer, then. That was the answer to the question he had always been too scared to ask. He was more than a monster, he was his own worst enemy. He was worse than shattered, he was irreparable. He was the thing he had chased for years, he was the kind of monster he hated, the twisted kind. It made sense, but he hated it. They weren't gonna kill him. He was one of them, why would they kill him.

That's what he meant by learn. Learn how to kill, how to toy with life and lives, learn how to be a professor, how to rend happiness and destroy hope. He wanted it to be over, he didn't want to be something like that, he wanted to be gone, he wanted to sit alone in dark nothingness and think. He wanted to be eaten, to be just another casualty.

He was crying so much it was hard to see what the healer was doing, hard to see her hand, but easy to hear what she was saying. She was saying that it was going to get better, no, she was promising that it would get better. Kaegen put more trust in promises than most, at least, in promises made by those who hadn't broken any. And as far as he knew, this girl hadn't broken a single word she had told him. But that didn't mean...

"How"

How were things going to get better? How could she promise something that big? Why was that other professor just standing there? Why was he born as one of them, he didn't feel like a monster, at least not a monster this bad, he had always believed he was neutral, but evil?

It was just another reason to cry. Just another reason to cover his face in the bloody tears of his kind.

Alaric was surprised by the fact that he had not been stabbed repeatedly by now. This child was unstable and that was very clear, but Alaric couldn’t help wanting to help him. He pulled away from the child glancing at Olphie and Hjørdis in turn before looking back at Kaegen. “I used to not be able to control myself either, Kaegen. You are young and it is clear you were not taught what you are and what you need to do to keep yourself in control. Professor Jensen is right you know. We promise to help you in any way you need to learn about who and what you are… And most importantly how to never let anyone take advantage of you for being you.”

Under normal circumstances, the man known as Alaric Equinox would have been embarrassed for his emotional outburst. He was normally always well put together, beautifully spoken, and mostly stoic. Here however he bared part of this soul to two of his collogues and a child. Yet, a part of him also did not care. If it would help he would do anything he could even if it meant making himself more vulnerable around the people he would rather hide it from.

“You don’t have to feel out of control, and I promise you if you let me, in time, you will never feel that way ever again.” He looked at Kaegen as he spoke his promise and he would maintain eye contact if the boy let him. He wanted to show him that he very genuinely meant every word he spoke. “We don’t have to stay in the infirmary I think you’ve had enough to drink to be stable for now. However, I want you to know that your presence is always welcome in my tower no matter what. The night sky can be very therapeutic.”